France international winger Ousmane 카지노 Dembele has joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the same club where Lee Kang-in plays.
“Dembele joins from FC Barcelona,” PSG said on its website on 12 December, “and will play with the club for the next five seasons, wearing the number 23.”
Dembele, who played for Dortmund in the German Bundesliga, signed a five-year contract with Barcelona (Spain) in 2017 for a transfer fee of more than €100 million ($145.8 million).
With Barcelona, Dembele scored 40 goals and provided 43 assists in 185 official games. He also won three Spanish Primera Liga titles and two cups.
However, frequent injuries led to his eventual departure from Barcelona amid criticism that he had not lived up to his transfer fee.
Dembele is a winger who is known for his dribbling skills with both feet and his darting runs.
He was capped by the France national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
For the national team, he made 37 appearances in A-matches (international matches), scoring four goals.
He has played mostly as a second-choice flanker for both his club and national teams, so his position overlaps with Lee Kang-in, the ‘future of Korean football’.
However, it’s hard to say that Dembele will remain just a competitor for Lee at this point.
With Neymar, the mainstay of the second-string attack, widely expected to leave the club, it’s possible that Lee and Dembele could play on either flank depending on the situation.
There’s also the fact that star striker Kylian Mbappe is in a bitter dispute with the club over a contract extension.
It’s entirely possible that Mbappe could be replaced by the more attack-minded Dembele up front, with Lee playing further down the pitch in midfield.
PSG kick off the 2023-2024 season with a home opener against Lorient at 4am on the 13th.